Tag: Random Awesome Shit

Amazon Prime is a Great Deal

I subscribe to Amazon Prime because it ends up being cheaper overall than paying shipping on the individual orders I make throughout the year. What I didn’t realize is how good of a deal Prime really is:

While sending off something as a light as an 0.8-ounce pack of feathers doesn’t cost the company much, analysts say Amazon may lose hundreds of dollars covering the cost of lugging around heftier items, such as 149-pound sofabeds or 300-pound treadmills. Shoppers, on the other hand, can more than make up for that $79 Amazon Prime enrollment fee with a single purchase.

[…]

So what’s the heaviest item Amazon will ship for free? The company declined to say, but the makers of a 1,509-pound safe (shipping weight: 1,672 pounds) claim the prize for biggest bang for one’s 79 bucks. See Cannon Safe CO54 Commander Series Premium 90 Minute Fire Safe

$79.00 to ship a 1,672 pound safe is quite the deal:

“We charge customers around $700 to ship this safe, but when they buy it through Amazon they get it shipped for free,” says Pasquale Murena, marketing manager for Cannon Safe. “As a result, we get orders through Amazon every day.” In fact, Amazon will pick up the tab for shipping the safe even for non-Prime members, if they are willing to wait a few extra days for delivery. Like many items priced over $25, it qualifies for “Super Saver Shipping,” which usually take five to eight days to arrive.

If you’re in the market for a Canon gun safe you can’t go wrong with an Amazon Prime subscription apparently.

The Amazing World We Live In

Yesterday Apple announced new products which means a bunch of people who hate Apple’s products have been busy furiously writing about all the stupid decisions Apple apparently made. They claim that the iPad mini is inferior to the Nexus 7 because the former’s Wi-Fi only model lacks a builtin Global Positioning System (GPS) whereas the latter doesn’t. Many angry paragraphs have been written about how horrible it is that all of Apple’s products, minus the slowly dying Mac Pro, have mobile Graphics Processing Units (GPU) and therefore are worthless for gaming. An almost uncountable number of keyboard strokes have been further spent complaining about the price Apple charges for their devices.

Why is everybody spending so much time complaining? If you think the Nexus 7 is a superior product to the iPad mini then get the Nexus 7. Do you want a gaming machine with the most powerful GPUs on the market? Build one or buy one from a company that sells a computer with the specifications you want. Is Apple charging more than you want to pay for their products? Buy products from a company charging what you think is appropriate. We live in a wonderful world where great products can be found everywhere. When you’re buying a tablet device you have to decide if you want the Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy, Google Nexus, Amazon Kindle Fire, or a tablet from another company. Hell you can even buy multiple tablets. The biggest problem facing consumers is deciding which amazing product to select.

We really do live in the future. Information can be easily and freely obtained thanks to the large group of interconnected computers we call the Internet. Data can be sent, almost like magic, through the air to most parts of the country thanks to cellular networks. Literature, music, and movies can be stored on laptop hard drives, tablets, and portable media players freeing us from carrying bulky books, CDs, and DVDs everywhere we go. I can access the largest information repository in the world from almost anywhere via a device that is so small it fits in my pocket. How fucking awesome is that?

Instead of getting angry over somebody buying a product that doesn’t fit your needs just enjoy the device you bought that does fit your needs. When Apple, Google, Samsung, Amazon, etc. release a new product let’s cheer the fact that we have so many choices available to us. We all have different needs and people are trying to ensure as many of those needs are being fulfilled as possible. The future is here, it’s awesome, and we should be celebrating that fact instead of fighting about it.

The Real 2012 Presidential Debates

The second presidential debate will be airing tonight. Needless to say I’m not going to be watching it. If I wanted to watch an idiot debate a mirror I could walk into my bathroom and scream at myself. Instead of wasting your time with the presidential debate I encourage you to watch the rap versions of the presidential debates. They’re far more entertaining and, unlike the actual presidential debates, you may actually learn something:

“Don’t let this war is peace price deceive you, I bombed a whole heap of people to pieces and my first term ain’t even completed,” has to be one of the best lines ever written regarding the presidential race.

The second video is pretty good as well:

Pure Awesome on Your Wrist

The things watchmakers can do has always amazed me. Using tiny sprints, gears, jewels, and miscellaneous other parts watchmakers are able to make machines that keep accurate time. Most watches are fairly insignificant devices, displaying the time and date. Some watches, such as the Aeternitas Mega 4, are marvels of horology. The Mega 4 is a purely mechanical watch containing 1,483 moving parts, support for two timezones, and an impressive prepetual calendar mechanism:

The eternal calendar of the Franck Muller Watchland workshops is different from any traditional perpetual calendar in that it takes into account the rule governing the Gregorian calendar stating that all century years not divisible by 400 are common years and not leap years.

The eternal calendar follows a cycle of 1’000 years (renewable to infinity) thanks to two additional sets of wheels:

The first set of wheels, comprising a wheel of 10 years, a wheel of 100 years and a wheel of 1’000 years, allows for the display of a cycle of 1’000 years.

The second set of wheels was designed for the setting, through the use of cams, of the skipping of the leap years three times in a row every 100 years and its re-establishment the fourth time.

A feature set like this on an electronic quartz watch wouldn’t be very impressive but the fact this watch is mechanical demonstrates the sheer skill some horologists have.

Support Your Friendly Fascist

It appears some good news have finally come in this year’s presidential race. Vermin Supreme, the only serious presidential candidate running this election, has announced his running mate and his new political party:

In an exclusive interview with Sunshine State News early Saturday evening, American performance artist, social anarchist, and satirical political activist Vermin Supreme announced that he will be running for president of the United States under the banner of his newly created Free Pony Party. His vice presidential running mate will be Jimmy McMillan of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party.

Free ponies and cheaper rent, what else could Americans possibly ask for? This may be the election’s winning ticket and if I vote I’ll likely throw my vote in for Vermin Supreme. He’s a friendly fascist and a tyrant we should trust, how could I say no to that?

Roger Pion, a True American Hero

I never heard the name Roger Pion before but the stunt he pulled in Vermont should make him world famous:

Working in a stout former bank building with windows closed and air conditioners humming, Orleans County sheriff’s deputies didn’t know what was happening in their parking lot until a neighbor called 911.

A man on a big farm tractor, angry about his recent arrest for resisting arrest and marijuana possession, was rolling across their vehicles — five marked cruisers, one unmarked car and a transport van.

By the time they ran outside, the tractor was down the driveway and out onto the road.

With their vehicles crushed, “We had nothing to pursue him with,” said Chief Deputy Philip Brooks.

This is why I love farmers, if anybody in this country has fighting spirit it’s them. Not only do they have fighting spirit but the way they seek revenge is usually quite comical. In this case nobody was hurt and laughs were had by all (except the police, but they don’t count because they arrested a man for a victimless “crime”).

I know the police are going to force Roger to pay for their cars again (he already paid once through taxation) and likely will hold the farmer in a cage for some time. If there is a relief fund or somewhere to send letters of congratulations I’d very much like to know.

Stubbs for Mayor

I’m sure everybody is aware of my distain for authority and especially political figures. I can happily say that I’ve finally found a politician that I can support, Stubbs the cat:

TALKEETNA, Alaska — A cat named Stubbs has been the mayor of Talkeetna for nearly all of his life — no joke.

It’s been that way for more than a decade in the small tourist town that boasts nearly 900 residents.

[…]

As the story goes, 15 years ago several of the town residents didn’t like the candidates who were running for mayor of Talkeetna, so as a joke, they encouraged enough people to elect Stubbs the cat as a write-in candidate, and he actually won.

Now, thanks to Stubbs, local tour guides have a little fun with the thousands of tourists who come through the town each summer.

A small mammal that generally keeps to itself, is incapable of using force to coerce you into actions you don’t want to take (seriously, if a cat can coerce you then you’ve got issues), and eats rodents that periodically attempt to damage your property and pilfer you food, what’s not to like? On top of that he also boosts tourism so is actually brining money to the community (as opposed to take it from the community as most mayors do). It is my hope that more municipalities will find wisdom in the actions of Talkeetna, Alaska and vote cats into political office.

Flawless Victory

While the Ron Paul campaign has basically called the campaign off the fine liberty-minded folks decided to take over the Republican State Convention anyways:

Mitt Romney might be the Republican Party’s presumed nominee for president, but maverick candidate Ron Paul scored the bigger win Saturday at Minnesota’s state Republican Convention.

The Texas congressman’s backers seized control of the state convention, claiming 12 of 13 open delegate slots to the GOP national convention in August. The 13th slot went to U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, who failed to win it on the first ballot. Her opponent, a Paul supporter, conceded out of respect.

That’s right, we took 12 of the 13 delegate seats for the national convention. I’ve heard several stories regarding the reason the 13th seat was granted to Bachmann. It appears that her opponent didn’t hand in a political resume, which is required in the rules to get a seat. Instead of fighting this with an attempt to change the rules it was decided that Bachmann would be granted the seat as it would demonstrated “good will” to the Republican Party. You can tell I wasn’t running the show because I would have operated a scorched Earth police and went through with a rule change to get the Paul supporter the 13th seat. Either way it’s pretty good to see Minnesota, one of the strangest states when it comes to politics, pulling off another trick. We didn’t stop at the 12 delegates though, we also took most of the alternate seats:

Previously, 27 delegates were chosen. In all, 32 of Minnesota’s 40 delegates are confirmed to support Paul over Romney.

Let me also give an acknowledgment to my friend Nate Atkins:

“Absolutely not,” said Nathan Atkins, a Republican convention delegate and Paul backer from Minneapolis. “I really don’t think he’s that different than Barack Obama. He doesn’t represent change.”

Atkins was wearing a tinfoil hat, a nod to more traditional GOP activists who have ridiculed Paul’s backers as paranoid conspiracy theorists. He said if Paul isn’t on the presidential ballot, he’d likely vote for Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson.

Most of us in the Minnesota liberty movement fail to take politics seriously. Many of the Paul supporters at the convention wore red fezzes and referred to themselves as the Ancient Persian order of Mystic Republicans. Atkins went so far as to cover his fez in tinfoil to mock those who claim Paul supporters are just a bunch of crazy conspiracy theorists. They also had a Hunger Games theme going on:

I could never survive in the Republican Party because the higher ups take themselves too seriously. On the other hand the liberty movement is always quick to mock and ridicule to absurdity of The Party while having a ton of fun as well. I’m glad they did so well, especially considering the fact that the Paul campaign has basically abandoned us.

Let me close by saying it is an absolute honor to call so many members of the Minnesota liberty movement my friends. When reading through all the coverage of the state convention I could only smile when reading about the antics, statements, and other ongoings because so many of the “perpetrators” were personal friends of mine. I am in some of the greatest company living here in the Twin Cities and it makes all of the other crazy shit that happens here worth it.

How a Mechanical Watch Works

I’m one of those ever more rare individuals who always wears a wristwatch. While I could just reach for my cell phone every time I wanted to know the time that isn’t my idea of practical nor desirable. Even as a young kid I was always fascinated with wristwatches, especially mechanical ones (quartz ones may be more accurate and the watch I wear most often, my Tissot T-Touch, may be quartz but my heart has always been with mechanicals). It’s a feat of human ingenuity to get all those little gears, springs, and jewel bearings running together in such in a way that allows us to accurately tell the passage of time. If you’ve ever taken a mechanical movement apart you can’t help but appreciate the engineering that went into its design and construction.

With that said I also enjoy those old videos that explain how things work. Needless to say I came across this gem, an old video that has to be from the ’50’s or ’60’s explaining how mechanical watches work. It’s actually does a very good job of explaining the concept (it seems older videos were much more straight forward and expressed their point clearer than modern videos usually do so they’re often better in my opinion):

For those of you wondering why I’m posting content about watches on my blog realize this is my blog and I will post what I want. It’s always fun to drive off of the beaten path and post things that have nothing to do with my usual content of guns and libertarianism.

Outside the Box Thinking can Saves Lives

Sometimes you just need to be creative tosave lives:

A suicidal man clung to an overpass high above Interstate 94 Monday morning, facing near-certain death if he jumped or fell.

But a quick-thinking state trooper found an ingenious way to save him: He summoned a convoy of 18-wheelers that had been stuck in halted traffic beneath the Groveland Avenue bridge as the emergency unfolded at about 10 a.m.

Trooper Carl Hoffman rounded up a six-pack of the big rigs, positioning the trucks one by one to break a potential plunge to the pavement about 25 feet below.

“It really speaks to the trooper’s ingenuity,” Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske said. “‘Hey, we can shorten his fall and he’d be less likely to harm himself.'”

In a way the story is kind of comical. When the trooper guided semi trucks below the man threatening to jump he would shuffle away from the semis, only to have the trooper position another semi under the jumper. Being creative and having the ability to think quickly are important.